Skateboarding in its various forms has been around since about the mid-twentieth century. A skateboard generally comprises a ‘deck’, upon which the skateboarder can stand and wheels attached by means of so-called ‘trucks’ to the underside of the deck. A deck commonly has a raised portion at one or both ends, which is useful when performing tricks as explained below. A skateboard is commonly ridden by placing a foot on the skateboard deck and by intermittently pushing off the ground with other foot the skateboard is propelled along. Once the skateboard is travelling, or rolling, at a sufficient speed, i.e. with sufficient momentum to travel a satisfactory distance, both feet rest on the deck to aid balance and help control the direction of travel. A skateboard is usually slowed by slowly depressing the back of the skateboard such that a padded plastic or rubber block attached to the underside of the back of the deck makes contact with the ground.
One of the skills a skateboarder can acquire is an ability to perform tricks with a skateboard. Such tricks are often performed from a starting position, in which the skateboarder rests both feet on the stationary deck. By depressing the back raised portion of the skateboard with the back foot, the skateboard pivots on its back wheels, and, if the skateboarder then quickly shifts his or her weight in the correct way towards the front of the board, the skateboard can be propelled into the air. Tricks may be performed while the skateboard is moving or from a standstill. The ability to perform tricks, especially those of a complicated nature, naturally takes some time and much practice to acquire.
It is not always possible or convenient to find an open space for practicing tricks. In enclosed spaces, such as a room of a house, it is often not practical to perform tricks, largely because the skateboard can roll on its wheels, which can damage objects in a room. For a beginner skateboarder, there is also a risk of injury if the skateboard rolls at an inopportune moment while performing, or trying to perform, a trick. This problem has been overcome in one device called a ‘soft truck’, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,658. Soft trucks are designed to be attached to a board in place of the wheeled trucks (trucks having wheels rotatably attached thereto). Soft trucks have no wheels, but generally have a similar shape to a truck with wheels. Thus, when the wheeled trucks are replaced by soft trucks, a skateboarder can practice tricks on the skateboard without the board rolling, but the board as a whole still has an approximate shape and weight distribution of a board with wheeled trucks.
Soft trucks, however, have a disadvantage in that the removal of the wheeled trucks and attachment of the soft trucks is time consuming and requires tools for unscrewing and tightening nuts and bolts which connect the wheeled-trucks or the soft trucks to the deck.
It is an aim of the present invention to overcome or substantially mitigate at least some of the problems associated with the prior art.